Super sick plant :(

[greenbug27]

Alright so this old lady was used for a mother plant and has been in the same pot with the same dirt for a while. It's ocean forest mixed with some extra perlite. I ph the water to 6.5-7, as I always have. Yesterday it looked thirsty but the dirt looked pretty moist. I checked the ph of the runoff and it's a 4 or lower. Today it looked like this. The branches are dying from the bottoms of the branches out. My dogs are dummy's sand one of them tried to eat the dirt and pulled out some roots a little over a month a go, but after a couple days of stress, a few amputations and gaining a little lean it was perky as always. So today a flushed it about 10 times with water ph'd to 8-8.5, 700ppm, ph is still 4 or lower. What should I get to find out the actual soil ph and what is the best way to fix that? Is there anything else that could be the problem since the plant looked healthy a couple days a go? Should I try some Nutes? I have the fox farm trio and a bunch of other stuff. I'm pretty lost on this one, I've had this lady for over a year but I still have it around because it's been pretty much a self sufficient tree. It's been through a lot at this point and now I would like to at least let it flower before I turn it into compost.

 

[Azhden]

Look for a nice soil pH tester/probe if you want to know for sure, I will link the best one I know of... but it does cost a pretty penny (~$130 )... you can find other soil testers for a lot less (under $10) but those are hit and miss... mostly miss

http://www.amazon.com/Bluelab-PENSOILPH-Soil-Tester-Pen/dp/B00CJIDFAS/ref=sr_1_11?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1423080500&sr=1-11

 

[Diabolical666]

You have RUST mites.I know alot about these dudes You are pretty fucked, its gonna hit you in the pocketbook pretty hard to fix this. You have to bomb your whole house, grow, and yard for 2 days in a row. Bleach all your tools, pots, walls in grow, creveces, lights etc etc etc. anything that you use on a reg basis that has come in contact. Your shoes, clothes, rugs all need to be cleaned with super hot water and a bit of bleach. If you dont belueve this is what it is...you can see em at 30x magnification. They look like little whales with tiny legs, white/clear in color.

 

[greenbug27]

I guess I'm gonna pick up that soil tester. I've tried some cheap ones with no luck. I have a 30x magnifier and inspected pretty well but didn't find anything, where would the rust mites be hanging out if I had them? I'm pretty sure the root ball must just be really acidic, but I don't want to drown this thing from flushing all day. Should I be trying to get the runoff down since I have no way to test the dirt? How should I do it and how much is too much?

 

[FilthyFletch]

Im gonna say its probably root bound. How long has it been in that little pot? If its a other it should be in a 5 gallon bucket as what happens is the roots fill the pot then strangulate and can not longer take food or water. The plant suffocates. Looks fine then wilted or yellow soil feel completely wet with water and food. Options are running out fast. Either try to get a clone using that best branch top left or take out of the pot try to rinse dirty off break cut the bottom of the root ball then replant in new soil in bigger put. You can try to foiliage feed with a mist bottle to see if she will perk up that way but Im pretty sure its root bound from what your showing and saying.

 

[greenbug27]

That's probably what it is. I can't really repot it right away since I spent all day flushing my soil though. It will probably take a few days to dry it out so I guess I'll grab some cuttings In the mean time. Would that have anything to do with the runoff ph being so low though? And shouldn't flushing with a higher ph at least lower the runoff ph a little?

 

[Silky Shagsalot]

if you've had her for a while, get her into some fresh soil. remove the whole root-ball, medium out of the pot. get yourself a saw, and cut a good 1/3 of your root-ball off with the saw, and re-pot into your fresh medium. mom's don't need an enormous amount (like you seem to be using) of nutes. don't chase your ph, or your nute run-off ppm for that matter. i'd cut those nutes down to 500 ppm, and see how she likes that...

 

[*BUDS]

What and ugly plant. Looks like it had flowered and re vegged and now its an old girl just surviving. Either clone it if it perks back up or ditch it its had it. In future start a new mum every 3 months and get rid of the old woody one.

 

[Jimmyjonestoo]

You have RUST mites.I know alot about these dudes You are pretty fucked, its gonna hit you in the pocketbook pretty hard to fix this. You have to bomb your whole house, grow, and yard for 2 days in a row. Bleach all your tools, pots, walls in grow, creveces, lights etc etc etc. anything that you use on a reg basis that has come in contact. Your shoes, clothes, rugs all need to be cleaned with super hot water and a bit of bleach. If you dont belueve this is what it is...you can see em at 30x magnification. They look like little whales with tiny legs, white/clear in color.

Mites was my immediate thought as well.

 

[Diabolical666]

Mites was my immediate thought as well.

yea thats definitly what it is.. nothing else does this...certainly not rootboundness

 

[ttystikk]

What and ugly plant. Looks like it had flowered and re vegged and now its an old girl just surviving. Either clone it if it perks back up or ditch it its had it. In future start a new mum every 3 months and get rid of the old woody one.

Right here- if you (the OP) don't already have a better clone you can promote to mom status, take a few off this one- and then pitch the bitch, nothing will come of flowering a trainwreck like that besides a waste of time, space and inputs.

Flower HEALTHY girls if you want decent results... think about it.